This will hopefully touch on some of the aspects that create a solid Halo player. It is geared towards those that play MLG, but anyone can benefit from it.

Steps

1

Work on the mental aspects. Halo is an incredibly mental game. One has to be smart in order to be successful. An important topic is out-thinking your opponent. Try to think what your opponent is going to do before he does it. This is key to any match. Think of the strong points on each map and all the locations of valuable weapons. At the start of each game, this is where your opponent(s) will go.

2

Try not to get mad at yourself or the game. Most Halo played is online, where lots of latency (lag) and trash talk exist. In order to be successful, one must not let these things effect their game play. When you become mad, it clouds your judgment and causes you to play very differently than what you usually would. So, stay cool, and brush it off. It will help a ton in the long run.

3

Don't be nervous. At tournaments, it is hard not to be nervous. You can also become nervous when playing online. All you can do is say to yourself, "I'm going to play to the best of my abilities and that's all there is to it". You're not going to intentionally play bad, so try your hardest not to worry about it.

4

Practice. If you're into the MLG scene, practice is amazingly important. The BR is the weapon of choice for every game type, so I suggest you become efficient with it. An efficient BR is when you can consistently out-shoot others around you. You're BR shots should usually be aimed towards the head of the opponent. Four headshots kill anyone that doesn't have an over shield.

5

Maintain control of the power weapons. Power weapons consist of the sniper rifle, rocket launcher, sword, shotgun, and plasma pistol(only in certain MLG game types). Maintaining control of these weapons is a key to success. When you run out of ammo, tell your teammates when you drop it so you know to move to that weapons location so you can pick it up when it respawns.

6

Be aware of who the host is when you're playing online. You can tell who host is at the start of the game. Hold down the back button when the game starts, and whoever doesn't have a red (X) by there name is the host. The host has an advantage on line and on a LAN connection. It is just much easier to notice online. The host's weapons are far more accurate and effective, because all the information is going through his xbox to yours. Thus it takes information longer to travel to your box, creating latency in your shots/grenades etc.

7

Learn techniques such as BXR and Grenade reloading. The BXR is just what it sounds like. The player hits (B) to melee. After the melee, they hit (X) to cancel the animation of the melee, and (R) to fire the BR. If done successfully, you can kill your opponent almost instantly. Try to keep your aiming reticule at head-level, because a headshot when you hit (R) is need for the instant kill. Also, when throwing a grenade, you can automatically reload your weapon by hitting LXX. (L) throws the grenade, and the (XX) causes the weapon to reload the weapon without going through the reload animation. Very handy because you can shoot through half of a clip of ammo and reload in the middle, but still continue shooting. This technique is only available if you aren't host. Another glitch that is becoming even more popular is RRX. RRX shoots two BR burst almost simultaneously. You Must hit (RR) and then (X) right after the (RR) to do this. This is incredibly difficult to get the hang of, but once you do, it is devastatingly efficient.

8

Use the following techniques when using the following weapons.

Battle Rifle - Use the scope and aim for the head every time, use it like the pistol in Halo 1.

Needler - If you're going to use this weapon, dual wield and keep aiming at an enemy as the needles are guided and can explode inside the enemy if there are enough shot.

Rocket Launcher - Aim for the floor right next to where they are standing.

Energy Sword - Make the targeting point turn red and then slash through.

SMG - Duel Wield these if possible, always aim for the chest.

Plasma Pistols - Overcharge the pistol and then wait for someone to pass by, as soon as there gamertag comes up, release the trigger and the plasma will follow the target until it hits.

Sniper rifle - Always aim for the head and it can zoom up to 10x.

Plasma Rifles - It's best to duel wield one of these with an smg if possible.

Ghost

The ghost is a well rounded vehicle, perfect for almost all problems. If you want to practice with one to avoid a lock with a rocket launcher, put it on overdrive, then off for a split second just enough for the ghost to turn in a different direction so the rocket won't get it.

Spectre

The spectre is a vehicle designed exactly like the warthog, so remember to get a friend to go on the turret, without someone on the turret, this vehicle is useless.

Wraith

Take advantage of the wraith's ability to shoot powerful bursts of plasma, and overdrive to your advantage. The wrath is like a slow moving, and a much more powerful, ghost.

Banshee

This is without doubt the funnest vehicle in the game. You can fly around on a map without any problem, and you can use it like a ghost as well.

Machine Gun Warthog

Exactly like the spectre, you will need someone to go on the turret for you, other than that you would need to run someone over to get a kill.

Gauss Warthog

This is a more powerful version of the warthog because of its upgraded turret gauss gun. It fires a missile other then little bullets. Otherwise it is a usual warthog.

Scorpion Tank

A more powerful human version of the wrath. This vehicle has two different weapons to fire, one is the main gun, and a machine gun. Right trigger to fire main cannon Left to fire machine gun.

Machine gun turret

Usually useless, unless it is used in an open area. Because it has endless bullets, once you start firing, don't stop.

Plasma Turret

This turret is a very good turret, it has an awesome firing ability and looks pretty cool to.